Barbara Fant
The unique and haunting voice of Barbara Fant has become a staple in the poetry slam community. The Youngstown native took Columbus, OH by storm in 2008 when she won the Women’s Black Pearl Poetry Grand Slam, earning entry into the Inaugural Women of the World Poetry Slam held in Detroit that same year. In total, she’s won three Columbus Grand Slams (two Women of the World Slams and the 2008 Individual World Poetry Slam) in addition to being part of two Columbus National Poetry Slam teams as well.
A student at Ohio Dominican University, Barbara has been a part of various goodwill organizations including Arts Safe and Projecting Murals, both of which are dedicated to teaching poetry to high school students and incarcerated teens and adults.
Barbara’s skill as writer was recognized when she received the Cora Craig Author Award for Young Women, a Penmanship Books recognition. Her first book under Penmanship, Paint Inside Out, will be published in March 2010.